SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about May 8 episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy “Love You Like a Love Song”
ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy served its signature mix of happiness and heartache in the penultimate Season 21 episode.
Miraculously, Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Link’s (Chris Carmack) wedding went off without a hitch after only four days of preparation. The largest obstacles were Jo finding a way to turn down her future mother- in-law’s questionable makeup artist talent and veil offering and Link struggling with his vows.
Jo’s BFF Levi (former cast member Jake Borelli), flying in from Texas to officiate the wedding, helped her understand where Link’s mom is coming from, while Bailey (Chandra Wilson) assisted Link in the vow-writing process with an unexpected result — Link surprised everyone by singing his vows while strumming a guitar to the delight of fans of Cormack’s Will Lexington from Nashville. (That surprise also explained the episode’s “love song” title)
We got an update on Levi who, several months after leaving Seattle, is still with his boyfriend James (who accompanied him at the wedding), and the two are now the proud parents of an adopted Labradoodle named after former Texas Governor Ann Richards.
Elsewhere in the episode, Teddy (Kim Raver) and Winston (Anthony Hill) were unsuccessful in their Hail Mary effort to save Nora, Megan Hunt’s childhood friend with whom Owen (Kevin McKidd) slept during his and Teddy’s brief open marriage experiment.
Knowing she was going to die, Nora confessed to Owen that she was in love with him. When Teddy had a breakthrough idea about a an innovative procedure that could save Nora at Jo and Link’s wedding, she rushed back to the hospital to find Nora in Owen’s arms.
Meanwhile, Lucas (Niko Terho) and Simone (Alexis Floys) had an ugly spat, in which she called out his privilege being a Shepherd. “I’m done, Simone,” Lucas said, visibly hurt, and walked away. In a move, she will likely live to regret, Simone hooked up with a guy in a bar, played by potential new Grey’s cast member Trevor Jackson. As Deadline reported exclusively, he is set to appear in the last two episodes this season with an option to become a series regular next season.
In an interview with Deadline, Grey’s Anatomy executive producer/showrunner Meg Marinis speaks about Jake’s return, the decision to have actor-musician Cormack sing on the show for the first time (he and his guitar have been Grey’s behind-the-scenes fixtures on social media). She also reveals whether there was a possibility for Joe to have a wedding and birth at the same time and addresses the potential fallout for Teddy & Owen and Simone & Lucas from the events at the end of this week’s episode in next week’s finale.
DEADLINE: How is it having Jake back for Jo and Link’s wedding and giving fans an update on his life in Texas, his relationship with James and their new dog?
MARINIS: It was great. Jake is such a family member for us, so it’s like having someone come home, and everyone was thrilled, and he was full of joy, he was happy and was all smiles. Also, he got to do something not medical. He got to come here and officiate the wedding and be there for his best friend.
I think one of the things that people love so much about Levi is his relationship with Jo, their friendship, their ability to be there for one another. Especially after for years she teased him for so many things, and in this episode, he’s really there for her because she does not know what it’s like to have a mom. And we’ve seen Levi with his mother, so he knows all about passive aggression.
Also, I feel like his character’s matured even since he left in Episode 7. I think he’s seen a lot in Texas, and it’s been a struggle, but the fact that he and his partner are still together, and they’ve gotten a Labradoodle. I love that [episode’s writers] Julie Wong and Michelle Lirtzman named the dog Ann Richards. What a nice shout-out because I’m from Texas, so I know all that.
Also it was so nice to be able to tell this joyful Episode 17, before what we see happens in 18 and so I think the fans will be overjoyed to see him in his navy, turquoise-y suit. He looks so good in it. And who doesn’t want Levi Schmitt to officiate your wedding?
DEADLINE: I think I speak for all Nashville fans when I say that we’ve been waiting for years to see Chris sing on Grey’s Anatomy. Did it look natural for Link to burst into a song for his vows? Absolutely not. But kudos for doing it. And now that we have established that Link has this unknown musical talent, will that continue?
MARINIS: Oh, I hope so. Who doesn’t want to see Chris Cormack sing on screen? We brought it to Chris, we were like, will you do this? And he was like, oh, okay, yeah. It was a collaboration; obviously, the writers wrote the [lyrics of the] song, and then he helped with the music. It was really fun when he sang that song, I don’t know, a bajillion times on the day that we shot it, but it was fun. We always wanted to save it for very special occasion, and so when the wedding story came up, we were like, there it is.
DEADLINE: There was fan speculation that Jo and Link may get married and welcome their twins at the same time. Did you consider Jo giving birth on the day of her wedding?
MARINIS: We did but based on where she was in her pregnancy, those babies would be in trouble medically because of where we’ve said on the air where she is. We’re not against telling stories of babies needing to stay in the NICU to let their lungs develop. But I didn’t know if I wanted to tell a story, with the wedding at the same time, of, 20-something week-ers.
DEADLINE: Along with the joy for Jo and Link, there was some potential heartache for Teddy and Owen when she saw him with Nora and for Simone and Lucas after their fight at the end of the episode.
MARINIS: Yes, those two things kind of tease that there may be some trouble in paradise for some of our characters.
DEADLINE: What can you tease about the finale?
MARINIS: Well, for Simone and Lucas, was that a breakup, or was that, we’re on a break? I think that is going to be a big question for the finale. Is Lucas going to come running back to Simone after seeing this joyful wedding? Is he going to feel like he made a mistake in their conversation? And is Simone’s going to tell him what happenned at the bar.
For Teddy, how painful is that for her to see her husband holding Nora, especially after she just came up with the possibly brilliant fix. So she’s coming in, thinking she’s having this victorious moment as a professional surgeon to see her marriage might be completely over, and what is she going to do about it? And can she compartmentalize in order to save this woman’s life?
The post A ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Wedding Brings Levi Back & Has Link Singing As EP Meg Marinis Teases Season 21 Finale With 2 Couples Facing Breakups appeared first on Deadline.
